Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies. Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

Tim McCarver Steals Headlines Again

It is October and the Phillies are not playing baseball. So what did I do in response to this devastating turn of events? I fled the country. Seriously. I recently returned from a 2-week excursion to a variety of places including Italy, Egypt, Greece and Israel. If anyone else out there is totally bummed out by the end of the baseball season, I highly recommend this adventure :O)

But it is back to reality now and I arrived just in time to see the start of the World Series last night. It was still depressing, but some baseball is always better than no baseball.

And with former Phillies player and announcer Tim McCarver on the job in the broadcast booth, hilarity is sure to ensue. So even if the game stinks, Mr. McCarver will inevitably, and totally accidentally, spice things up.

He did just that during Game 1. As the crowd chanted, “Barry! Barry! Barry!” for a base hit by San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito, McCarver and partner Joe Buck had a very interesting conversation that went like this (this is not a joke; he actually said all of this):

McCarver: “That’s a sound he has not heard too often in this ballpark. That sound of ‘Barry! Barry!’” (referencing Barry Zito)

Joe Buck: “They used to say it for someone else around here.”

McCarver: “When Barry Manilow was here at concerts.”

Joe Buck: “Or Barry Bonds.”

***McCarver then went silent, in probable humiliation. Eventually, Buck had to coax him back on air…

Joe Buck: “Come back to me over there.”

McCarver: “Sorry, it’s one of those moments.”

Well, at least McCarver recognizes that he has had more than his share of “those moments” over the years. But surely mistaking Barry Manilow for the San Fran Home Run King, Barry Bonds will go down in history as one of McCarver’s biggest gaffes ever.

And for the belly laughter that ensued, we all thank McCarver and his Hall of Fame announcing skills.

Did I forget to mention that the Panda, Pablo Sandoval, hit 3 home runs in the game, tying a record set by Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols and others? I did? Sorry, I was totally distracted by the Manilow thing…I will do better next time ;o)

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